When CMLL started up their "membresia" on YouTube one of the promises was historical content. So far, we've got none. There were specific mentions of rookie Volador Jr. matches which would be from the 10/17/00 & 10/24/00 shows respectively. Do these actually exist on video? Yes. They do. On Alexis Salazar's podcast with Volador Jr. he spliced in clips from both matches. They exist.
Why haven't they been uploaded? Your guess is as good as mine. Or maybe mine is a bit better understanding the psychology of some people involved with the project. I believe, as with many things in CMLL, it all comes down to self-interest of those involved. The original commentary tracks for all these shows include voices CMLL isn't affilaited with any longer. Speficially Leobardo Magadan who left on bad terms & has said negative things about both Julio Cesar Rivera & Alexis Salazar. My feeling is neither of these two want to publish anything with Magadan's voice. There is precedent to this as during the pandemic CMLL dipped into their archives for content & released matches never seen before from some major events in the early 2000's. The audio was re-dubbed with JCR being the lead voice. If I'm correct in my guess here, this is a huge stumbling block to any footage ever make it out. The amount of time it would take to re-dub audio for 20+ years worth of shows from a company that runs 3+ times a week is... well... incalcuable. Especially combined with having to still do live commentary 3+ times a week. There just isn't enough time in the day. Relationships change over time so maybe the two sides will re-unite some day... who knows.
Either way I want to make it clear - I don't expect to see the CMLL archives opened up in my lifetime. This is a long way down the road thing when somehow all the content in digital form ends up in the hands of someone who both wants to do something with it & has the ability to do so. Since I won't be around to see this ever occur - I'm taking it upon myself to put together a content list for future crazy CMLL hardcores who didn't live through these eras. A cheat sheet basically to know what to request when the time comes. I consider myself an expert on what has aired, what hasn't or what only partially did. So this is the equivalent to someone like a Richard Land who documented all WWWF/WWF/WWE TV over the years so when the archives opened up he knew exactly what to ask for from the people in charge of distrubuting it. You can't just assume those in charge of doing so will be aware what is considered "new" or what the real gems are. Aside from it all being overwhelming, they just may not know.
The obvious question is - how can you be certain CMLL even has this stuff? Well, I can't say 100%. But I do have a pretty good idea + some actual hard evidence as to what content is available. There could be more than I know (Puebla? GDL? All Sundays?) but I am restricting my list to the timeline of footage I know is sitting in the archive instead of making wild assumptions.
I believe all footage in 1999 & on from Tuesdays/Fridays were recorded for the purpose of TV distribution. 1999 was the year CMLL started airing on Fox Sports (International). So the announcers would do commentary for the entire shows whether matches ended up on TV not. I have enough Fox Sports footage to know this as true, these were not post-produced shows. CMLL's TV format has never changed in this sense. They never really had any outlet for the Sunday shows until late 2005 when 52MX began airing lucha libre after the ENESMA fiasco the previous year.
Before I get on with the list:
1) All Tzuki matches. Any minis matches from the 2000's really. This would be too easy. So I'm not gonna do that. Of course I'd go straight for those if I had access but the idea here is to provide a comprehensive list of the more important/rarities that the masses would probably want to see, not my personal preferences.
2) If CMLL is going to hold a grudge against an announcer who left, clearly they are going to do the same for many former wrestlers. I don't expect any CMLL service to ever put up video of something involving El Hijo Del Santo or the Munoz family. However, time heals all wounds. I can't see into the future so I don't know who will or won't be friends by the time any of this footage comes to light. So I'm just including everything but will make notes along the way of likelihood of seeing certain matches.
3) This is not news. I don't know who even checks on this blog, hopefully nobody really. But I do know that weirdo Cubs has robots all over who can track when things get updated. This is not news, Cubs. There is no need to link to it or share it anywhere.
With that said...
CMLL ARCHIVES REQUEST LIST:
1/15/99 @ Arena Coliseo: Mini Rey Misterio Jr. & Ultimo Dragoncito vs Los Espectrios I y II
Rob, you said you wouldn't only list Tzuki matches or your personal preferences! I lied! Well, not really. This is actually a match that the magazines said got not only a huge ovation but also lots of money thrown which was *very* rare for the minis. Mini Rey Jr. in particular was said to be a sensation so considering this is his third-to-last appearence here, one would assume this was the match where someone in CMLL realized we need to create our own gimmick for this guy.
3/19/99 @ Arena Mexico: Blue Panther vs Rodolfo Ruiz
Rodolfo Ruiz retirement match. Possibly a lightning match although reports differ. Photos made it look like a typical exhibition match with no actual finish, just two veterans rolling around. Not even a single clip made it to television.
3/19/99 @ Arena Mexico: Torneo Pasado y Presente
Special tag tournament booked in a way where every match was legends vs current stars. Clips of each match aired on TV although mostly just the finishes. There was also a ceremony either before or afterwards where the legends all got plaques.
4/2/99 @ Arena Coliseo: Gran Alternativa
The semi-finals & final aired on TV, all JIP but none of the other matches have ever been seen. The Gran Alternativa was always a yearly highlight & considering this was the year Ultimo Guerrero won which started his rise in CMLL - it seems like a no-brainer easy archive pick. Especially with his partner being Blue Panther who is a forever CMLL legend.
4/27/99 @ Arena Coliseo: Flor Metalica & Marcela vs La Andromeda & La Amapola
Marcela's CMLL debut so the first of a million matches working opposite La Amapola.
5/25/99 @ Arena Coliseo: Ricky Marvin & Sombra De Plata vs Fugaz & Sangre Azteca
Considered the four most promising rookies of their time, this was a revancha from the previous Tuesday. Being in the 2nd match was an incredibly high spot on the card for these guys at the time so you have to assume they went all out. The magazines raved about these guys who were just about to go on one of their early CMLL Japan tours so you know they must have been amped.
7/2/99 @ Arena Mexico
Nothing from this Friday show ever made TV. It features a good looking Super Astro/Blue Panther lightning match as well as another match with the four promising youngsters of Ricky Marvin/Sombra De Plata vs Fugaz/Sangre Azteca, the first time but not the last that raved about tag match would be held in this building.
7/16/99 @ Arena Mexico: Ricky Marvin & Sombra De Plata vs Fugaz & Sangre Azteca
Yep, these guys again. Word had started to spread about how great these matches were so they got put in a rare tag team lightning match on a high spot (4th!) on the show. A clip or two ended up on Momentos Estelares, specifically an amazing assisted springboard corkscrew plancha by Marvin.
8/3/99 @ Arena Coliseo: Atlantis vs Villano III (CMLL Light Heavyweight Title)
At this point CMLL was already going strong on this feud that wouldn't climax until March 2000. This one ends in a DQ so presumably played into whatever was going on & is another puzzle piece that led to the mask match a few months later.
8/13/99 @ Arena Mexico
Another Friday show where the TV was pre-empted that weekend so nothing from it has ever existed on video.
9/17/99 @ Arena Mexico: El Hijo Del Santo & Negro Casas vs Blue Panther & Dr. Wagner Jr. (CMLL Tag Team Titles)
Aired on TV but brutally edited. Live reports had it going 20+ & TV airs less than half that, cutting each fall at random times. Hard to imagine this wasn't a classic tag match.
9/24/99 @ Arena Mexico: 66th Anniversary Show
The top half aired on TV w/ usual editing, the bottom half - including another Marvin/Sombra vs Fugaz/Azteca lightning tag - never saw the light of day. Footage of the undercard was used in the CMLL Fox Sports bumpers though so one has to assume it aired internationally although this was the very early point of some of us starting to have access to the Fox matches.
11/19/99 @ Arena Mexico
TV show pre-empted in Mexico (& thus not aired in US either) but aired internationally on Fox Sports. Sets up the Liger vs Shocker match the following week...
11/26/99 @ Arena Mexico
Another TV pre-empted so the only available footage is from the Fox Sports airing. Loaded show as well w/ Shocker vs Liger & a 3 way hair match between Pierroth/Porky/Dantes. Also has a much loved Leyenda De Plata torneo cibernetico won by El Hijo Del Santo which was edited down for TV purposes.
12/17/99 @ Arena Coliseo: Gran Alternativa
The second Gran Alternativa of the year although this was basically the 2000 version. Semis & final air in purely only finish form on TV. Would be great to see entire tournament as the rookie class was pretty loaded & most of the favorites unfortunately went out in the quarterfinals.
1/1/00 @ Arena Coliseo & 1/8/00 @ Arena Coliseo
A two-part special to celebrate lucha libre heading into the new century aired so these two weeks of Friday (1/1 was Saturday holiday show) never made it to TV in Mexico or US. Both shows aired on Fox Sports internationally but only select matches my source recorded made it into the hands of tape traders.
2/18/00 @ Arena Mexico
Another pre-empted weekend of TV in US (not sure if aired in Mexico or not) so this Friday show only officially made it to Fox Sports. Features a Tzuki/Espectrito I lightning match & a parejas incriebles match with Atlantis/Villano III vs Tarzan Boy/Satanico which officially sets up the two big upcoming apuesta matches. The TV show also had clips from the press conference where the Atlantis/Villano III mask match was signed.
4/18/00 @ Arena Coliseo: Olimpico/Ringo Mendoza/Safari vs Anifaz Del Norte/Lizmark/Tinieblas Jr.
Very rare for it's time tecnicos vs tecnicos match in a CMLL ring. It may not look particularly interested on paper but it stands out solely for the reason it was even booked at all. May have had something to do with the Friday show days later having an incredible partners trios tournament so due to splitting the bookings up not many rudos were available here. Probably the only time in CMLL Safari/Antifaz got to oppose each other & certainly long-time vets like Ringo & Lizmark who never had rudo runs.
5/30/00 @ Arena Coliseo: Ricky Marvin vs El Fiero (Hair vs Hair)
The first of a series of hair match wins for rising star (...) Ricky Marvin. This one over El Fiero (Mario Prado) which ends up being his farewell bonus after working for CMLL since roughly 1986. Ricky was the young pretty boy Tuesday attraction at the time but the entire run largely never existed on TV with how short the TV episodes were. May have aired on Fox Sports which still had CMLL until at least August of this year.
6/2/00 @ Arena Mexico: Antifaz/Felino/Negro Casas vs Satanico/Rey Bucanero/Ultimo Guerrero
I believe this was the match where the infamous AAA invasion occured. They did another one the following week which is the more memorable one solely because video of it exists from TV. A quick clip of this one aired as well but since the match never aired it's been somewhat forgotten. I think it was the Vipers who got involved in this one & ended up chased out of the building.
6/13/00 @ Arena Coliseo: Los Astro Boys I y II vs Super Cometa & Vaquerito
Confirmed to be Mistico & Argos as 19/16 year olds in their official CMLL debuts - matching gear & all! On the other side is Vaquerito (aka Inquisidor) who had just graduated from the minis division. For a while we thought this match was just a placeholder for names as we didn't have the full lineup but it was proven to be a real match & one that absolutely exists in the CMLL archives. They don't pop up again for months & Mistico as Astro Boy doesn't start his "official" run until late 2002. Gold level archival footage if it ever goes up.
6/16 & 6/23/00 @ Arena Mexico: Ricky Marvin vs Virus
Two straight Fridays of lightning matches between these always great opponents. First one goes to a draw so they run it back to determine a winner the following week. The start of their feud which would carry on into 2001. No Arena Mexico match between the two ever made video in any form.
9/15/00 @ Arena Mexico
The top two matches from this show aired on TV but the undercard did not. Very the norm for this time frame except the undercard on this show was VERY WACKY by CMLL standards of the time. The opener features Puebla locals Bobby Jack & Tarahumara somehow finding their way to Mexico City which is weird in itself. The 2da & 3ra were both billed as Mexico vs The World matches w/ Pantera/Ricky Marvin/Tony Rivera vs Nozawa/Ryo Saito/Secret Sasuke (Mazada?) & Antifaz/Felino/Safari vs Kato Kung Lee (Sr!)/Salsero/Super Kendo. I still don't believe these matches happened as written so I demand the video proof!
9/22/00 @ Arena Mexico: Leyenda De Plata Torneo Cibernetico
This entire show did not air anywhere due to Olympics pre-emptions. It'd be nice to have the entire show of course but in particular the Leyenda De Plata torneo was always a yearly standout in terms of putting all the best workers in one match. This one comes down to Negro Casas & Dr. Wagner Jr.
9/29/00 @ Arena Mexico
This is noted as the default Anniversary Show for this year as with business in the tank CMLL didn't really run a real major show. Negro Casas & Dr. Wagner Jr. have their singles final for the Leyenda De Plata here. The top matches air heavily edited on TV but it'd be nice to have the show in full just for the sake of consistency with CMLL "Anniversary" events. The undercard has another Mexico vs The World match, this time with Nozawa, Secret Sasuke (Mazada?) & Sanshiro (Takagi of DDT) as the foreigners.
10/6/00 @ Arena Mexico: El Hijo Del Santo vs Negro Casas
This aired on TV but with them having to combine weeks due to Olympics coverage it got sliced & diced down to sub 10 minutes. You have to think they went longer live, even with it being a special one fall match. Matches with these two are not to be missed so if a full copy exists somewhere, we have to see it!
10/17 & 10/24/00 @ Arena Coliseo: Volador Jr. rookie matches
As noted all the way above, these are definitely in the archive.
11/3/00 @ Arena Mexico: Neutron & Volador Jr. vs Fugaz & Virus
Volador Jr's Arena Mexico debut should be good enough to request this but also features Neutron's all-time scary plunge on a dive wrong. The mere fact he barely missed any time is a miracle to anyone who has seen it. Straight down. Hard. Such a spectacular accident they referenced it on commentary any time he made TV down the line.
11/7/00 @ Arena Coliseo: Arena Coliseo Tag Team Titles Tournament
CMLL decided to bring back those ugly looking Arena Coliseo Tag Title belts & put them up for grabs in a tournament with all their best young wrestlers who almost never made TV. Miraculously... this made TV! Unfortunately it was only the finishes of each match. Would be amazing to watch the entire thing which took up the entire show aside from a Negro Casas/Ultimo Guerrero main event.
11/21/00 @ Arena Coliseo: Mascarita Sagrada & Tzuki vs Fire & Pierrothito
The minis dream team! The original Mascarita Sagrada returns to CMLL for the first time since April 1992 to team with the guy who took over the gimmick for him in AAA. They still had heat at this point! I believe this was supposed to lead to a longer run but Antonio Pena threatened a lawsuit over usage of the gimmick (the 3rd version Mascarita Sagrada 2000 had already been wrestling almost a year at this point).
12/1/00 @ Arena Mexico: Octagoncito & Tzuki vs El Fierito & Fire
Similar reasons to the above match. This was supposed to be Mascarita Sagrada returning to Arena Mexico but due to the legal issues Octagoncito stepped in making his own return to Arena Mexico after 8+ years away. It ends up being a one-off of course.
12/22/00 @ Arena Coliseo: Ricky Marvin vs Virus (CMLL Super Lightweight Title)
This one actually did find a way to somehow squeeze onto TV! But as with the time period, it was edited down quite a bit. What aired was great... you can hear the crowd buzzing after a cut in the 3rd fall so clearly this was a fantastic match as you'd expect. Would love to see it in full as this was Ricky's big match to close off the year being the novato MVP of Arena Coliseo.
3/16/01 @ Arena Mexico: Ricky Marvin vs Virus (CMLL Super Lightweight Title)
Their only non-lightning singles match ever at Arena Mexico. I remember the magazines raving about this one but of course with 90 minute TV episodes at the time it never stood a shot of airing.
4/17/01 @ Arena Coliseo: Tigre Blanco vs Karloff Lagarde Jr. (CMLL Welterweight Title)
A somewhat surprising title change! Always good to have title changes on video.
5/11/01 @ Arena Mexico
If for nothing else we need this show unearthed because it's one we don't have full results or a lineup for! We know it's headlined by Satanico vs Ultimo Guerrero in a first-time singles match which made TV (edited). The only other match we know happened was the other match that made TV & had a very non-CMLL bit where Silver King refused to wrestle in his match saying he was too important to be stuck in a tercera. This was his write-off in front of the fans as he'd take on the Black Tiger gimmick the following month. What we also know is Ayako Hamada & Ai Fujita from ARSION were in for the weekend so they probably had a match on this show.
7/10/01 @ Arena Coliseo: Black Magic/La Fiera/Villano IV vs Black Warrior/Fuerza Guerrera/Zumbido
Norman Smiley aka Black Magic resurfaces in his old stomping grounds with WCW going out of business. He only did a couple matches, most on Sunday shows so this would be one of two Tuesday matches likely available in the archives. Pretty good mix of talent as well.
7/24/01 @ Arena Coliseo: Zeta vs Principe Negro
A newly implemented match around this time period would be CMLL giving two students per week a chance to do a singles match to open one of the Coliseo shows. This one sneaks onto a Tuesday show meaning it should be in the archive & features two wrestlers who we know by name but really never got to see have a match in a CMLL ring. Getting to see this would be a nice look into both & what kind of young talent CMLL had available but never really ended up giving a chance to.
7/27/01 @ Arena Mexico: Averno/Fuerza Guerrera/Satanico vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/Mascara Magica
The Infernales vs Infernales/rudos vs rudos issue was really hot at the time & this is a Friday trios that never found it's way onto TV. Mephisto had just shown up weeks earlier but got hurt almost immediately so Fuerza Guerrera steps in here for him.
7/29/01 @ Arena Mexico
A Sunday show! As I said, I have no proof CMLL has the Sunday shows until at least the 52MX era in late 2005 but this is an exception. This show was advertised on the bare bones CMLL website run by Rosalio Vera at the time. He explained the show would be recorded & for the price of $15 USD + shipping you could order it! Sounds great! We waited months for any word on how to get the video but alas it never came to be. One of the all-time hardcore lucha fans mysteries as to what the story was with this show. At one point I believe they had also advertised it as airing on Sky PPV but nobody has ever come forward saying they saw it or had a copy. The show is put together as a major event (I forget what name they used - maybe Juicio Final?). It's headlined by a Villano III vs El Signo hair match which CMLL had spent months building on the Friday shows, special appearence by La Parka & a Mexican National Trios Titles defense. This was a big deal for it's time & would be gold level footage to unearth.
8/14/01 @ Arena Coliseo: Gran Alternativa
Another Gran Alternativa where only the semis & final made TV - highly edited. Over the course of time someone uploaded the full tournament to YouTube (maybe from a slightly longer airing of TV in Mexico at the time? Which opens up the possibility we are missing lots of stuff that actually aired on TV?) but even that has each match joined in progress. Would love to see the tournament in full.
9/7/01 @ Arena Mexico: Satanico/Averno/Mephisto vs Ultimo Guerrero/Mascara Magica/Tarzan Boy
Another battle between the two Infernales sides, this time with Rey Bucanero missing from the equation. There were some TV pre-emptions at this time causing multiple weeks to air at once leaving this semi-main on a Friday out in the cold.
10/5/01 @ Arena Mexico: Leyenda De Plata Torneo Cibernetico
Another Leyenda De Plata that made TV but in an era where TV chopped everything up brutally. This one is JIP with some of the field already eliminated. Loaded up with all the best workers this year as even Ricky Marvin got to participate, a spot way above his pay grade at the time.
11/2/01 @ Arena Mexico: Antifaz Del Norte/Black Warrior/Felino/Rey Misterio Jr. vs Black Tiger/Juventud Guerrera/Nicho El Millonario/Virus
Rey Misterio Jr. & Psicosis make their Arena Mexico debuts! This aired on TV but again... you'll keep reading me type this... it was a heavily edited version that made it to TV. This would be gold level footage to unearth if it can ever be viewed unedited.
11/6/01 @ Arena Coliseo: Antifaz Del Norte/Felino/Rey Misterio Jr. vs Averno/Blue Panther/Nicho El Millonario
Now the Arena Coliseo debuts for Rey Misterio Jr. & Psicosis! If you can believe it, the TV (at least the one we had access to in the US) aired a Dinamitas match instead of this amazing looking trios. It was a rough time to be a CMLL fan following through TV outside of Mexico. No doubt these guys went all out to impress & if it ever sees the light of day this will no doubt be an unearthed classic.
12/7/01 @ Arena Mexico
Show was pre-empted in the US so nothing from it has ever seen the light of day except the segunda a week later when they had to fill TV with older matches since they couldn't air the PPV.
12/25/01 @ Arena Coliseo
Nothing from this show made TV so it would be all new footage. Has a Brazos vs Villanos match on top, Ricky Marvin working his first ever semi-main event & the opener has the debut of Brazo De Oro Jr. (future La Mascara).
2/22/02 @ Arena Mexico
Another one of those pre-empted TV shows leading to multiple weeks needing to be combined. This has the 3rd straight Shocker vs Tarzan Boy match on top but this one is a title match that never saw the light of day. The semi-main has clips shown on a future week of TV. Everything else would be new.
3/19/02 @ Arena Coliseo
Nothing from this show found it's way onto TV. Features the return of Vampiro... which I know isn't a strong selling point but it also has a Shocker/Dr. Wagner Jr. singles match which sounds like one of the best CMLL matches possible in this time frame along with a rare defense of the ugly Arena Coliseo Tag Team Titles!
3/22/02 @ Arena Mexico: Grand Prix Torneo Cibernetico
Even though it's billed as a Grand Prix, there are no foreigners included. This was just CMLL picking 16 of their best wrestlers & saying go have fun for an hour. Actually, it was a way to keep pushing Mascara Magica strong (he submits Santo cleanly at the end) but my way makes it sound better. This match made it onto TV but good luck getting an hour match onto TV unedited. It was JIP & missing some eliminations. The magazines at the time raved about this one.
4/9/02 @ Arena Coliseo
We have no lineup or results from this show so it could be a CMLL Mystery Vortex! This isn't an anomoly, we have quite a few Tuesday missing lineups/results but I am marking this one down because Shibata (yes, that one) & Watoru Inoue were on an excursion at this time so you never know what wacky match could exist on this show. Gigante Silva & Giant Singh were also around but I *think* it was just for the Friday & Sunday shows following this one.
5/24/02 @ Arena Mexico
A show that never aired in the US so we have to presume never aired in Mexico either. It does show up on Samurai TV which was airing CMLL at the time! The top 3 air although it's unclear how edited down they were since the Samurai TV version would vary in time from an hour to 90 minutes.
5/31/02 @ Arena Mexico: Volador Jr. vs Averno (Lightning Match) & Atlantis/Mr. Niebla/Solar I vs Blue Panther/Dr. Wagner Jr./Fuerza Guerrera
A major Friday show with a double hair match & tag title match as the headliners. That left no TV time available for a very strong undercard which included the first Volador/Averno match in Arena Mexico which of course would turn into a long time rivalry. Solar I also pops up randomly for a trios match, he had been mostly away from CMLL for a while now & certainly not booked at the level of the others. The Panther/Wagner/Fuerza team were on a strong run at this time & those are some opponents they could definitely have made magic with.
6/14/02 @ Arena Mexico: La Fiera/Ricky Marvin/Tony Rivera vs Arkangel/Heraclys/Zumbido
This would qualify under the DEEP DIVE portion if the archives ever get opened up. This never aired match is the debut of Heraclys. Who? I don't know. Nobody has ever seemed to know. A gimmick that pops up here & is gone by October after getting a decent number of bookings. Never even came across any photos in magazines of the gimmick. The closest explanation we ever got was "brother of La Fiera" which makes sense name-wise since their dad worked as Hercules Poblano. He disappears around the same time La Fiera does so maybe they packed up & went home together.
6/16/02 @ Arena Mexico
Another Sunday show! Another big Sunday show! We don't even have the full lineup for this one, only the top. An undercarders cage match where Solar II loses his mask & a CMLL Trios Titles match that had been built up for months on the Friday shows. It's *possible* this aired on SKY which is the only reason I'm throwing it in here. If it didn't, highly unlikely this was a recorded show.
7/14/02 @ Arena Mexico
Same as above... another Sunday show I'm only including because it may have been a SKY show. CMLL loaded up Sunday once again - this time with a double hair match on top & guest appearences from Tinieblas w/ Alushe, Mascara Sagrada & Trio Fantastia. It doesn't look like an overly stellar card on paper but the main event was a key part of the generally awful Boricuas vs Mexico feud so if we had to suffer through months of that we should at least get to see what the payoff was like. (this is where Poder Mexica aka Rush's dad loses his mask)
7/26/02 @ Arena Mexico
Stop if you've heard me already... this show has the yearly loaded up Leyenda De Plata torneo which got edited severly on TV. Would love to see it in full. It's also the only match from this show to make it onto TV so unearthing this entire event would get us an unseen Santo/Shocker/Mascara Magica vs Guerreros Del Infierno match which sounds wonderful for it's time.
9/13/02 @ Arena Mexico
It's the yearly Anniversary Show so I feel obligated to put it here so we can see it in full some day but also it's not the most exciting lineup of matches that we haven't seen yet. They might be good, no doubt, but it wouldn't be in the top half of my personal must-see archived events.
9/16/02 @ Arena Mexico: Cage Match
Another loaded up Sunday show with a twist... this one did air on TV! Well parts of it. The main event cage match which may be the first time CMLL just randomly threw a bunch of people* into a cage as a main event sees guest star Bulldog lose his mask to Universo 2000. The opener has La Alianza who were a much hyped young trio in a time when CMLL wasn't interested in pushing any young talent who didn't have family connections. (* -> we are missing a bunch of Sunday lineups so it is possible the cage match had some kind of build)
9/20/02 @ Arena Mexico
With the special Independence Day show getting some TV time it meant the weekly Friday show was shut out completely. So this would be a brand new show to all & the lineups is loaded in terms of workrate! Mexico vs Japan on top, Infernales vs Guerreros, Santo/Casas/Atlantis vs Familia De Tijuana, Black Warrior/Felino/Virus vs Panther/Fuerza/Juvy... that's some quality stuff. One could argue better lineup than the Anniversary Show had a week earlier.
10/4/02 @ Arena Mexico: Felino/Negro Casas/Virus vs Blue Panther/Fuerza Guerrera/Juventud Guerrera
Virus having just turned tecnico is in a feud with the Guerreras who enlist Blue Panther for this awesome looking trios match. Only one match from this show aired & everything else besides this one looks ROUGH so maybe this can be a hidden gem or something.
10/18/02 @ Arena Mexico: Virus vs Juventud Guerrera
This well built-up singles match did not make the cut for TV which was disappointing. To this day I have no idea how it could have went. Virus was in his prime & getting the biggest push of his career but Juvy could be up-and-down depending on what condition he was in. If he came to play, this probably is a hidden gem. If he came to fuck around, maybe Virus made him find out. Either way I'd love to see it!
10/29/02 @ Arena Coliseo: Atlantis vs Blue Panther (WWA Middleweight Title)
They had a singles match to set this up the week before which did make TV but go figure the title match did not! One would presume this would be as safe as a match as possible to be pulled from the archive with both ending up as CMLL lifers.
CMLL 11/12/02 @ Arena Coliseo: Marcela & Azumi Hyuga vs La Amapola & Comando Bolshoi
The women are in as guest stars for the week. Their Friday match ends up airing (JIP) on TV but there was no way both would be squeezed into the short TV time. What we saw of the Friday match was good so one would presume this was as well.
1/1/03 @ Arena Coliseo: Black Tiger/Fantasma Jr./Tigre Rojo vs Bobby Jack/Super Comando/Tarahumara
Maybe as a belated Christmas gift, maybe to make up for many of the regular roster guys being home for New Year's celebration, whatever the reason this is a super rare time the Puebla locals were called into action in Mexico City. For a couple of them it was their only taste of Mexico City action. This would be a very obscure match to pull from the archives. (No, this is not Santos Escobar, this is his older brother who started out before him & was on the main CMLL roster for a time.)
1/1/03 @ Arena Coliseo: Gran Alternativa
A completely unaired Gran Alternativa! We know the teams, we know Genetico (future Sagrado) won but that's the extent of information we have from this show. The only known Gran Alternativa in CMLL history where zero footage has ever been seen.
3/11/03 @ Arena Coliseo: Tigre Blanco vs Dr. X (Mexican National Welterweight Title)
Title change! This may have slipped through the cracks & made it onto TV if there was a TV show that weekend, which there wasn't. So the only footage we have are the top 2 matches from Arena Mexico which made it onto a Samurai TV CMLL airing. Always nice to see actual changes & these two probably had a hell of a match.
4/4/03 @ Arena Mexico: Tony Rivera & Terrible vs Ricky Marvin & Genetico
Finals of the Guapos U tournament as picked by a legit fan poll! Winning team immediately moved onto a singles match with the winner becoming the new Guapo. The entire "tournament" which was just random singles matches over the course of many months at Arena Coliseo aired on TV but this final never stood a chance with it being the 2nd match on a major show. A JIP version airs on the Samurai TV CMLL version but for the sake of closure it would be great to see the entire thing in full. Safe match to pull from the archives as well with Terrible being a CMLL lifer & this being his big breakthrough match.
4/30/03 @ Arena Mexico: Pequeno Olimpico vs Pequeno Violencia (Mask vs Mask)
Special Wednesday Kids Day show at Arena Mexico but we know the TV cameras were there because the finish of this match aired on TV along with other matches from the show. Two career CMLL wrestlers in their biggest match ever seems like a no-brainer selection from the archive.
CMLL 5/2/03 @ Arena Mexico
One of the skipped over Friday shows with the Kids Day festivities airing & shortened TV time slot. So everything from this one would be new even with it being a very run-of-the-mill lineup.
CMLL 5/9/03 @ Arena Mexico: Grand Prix
This version of the Grand Prix is basically Mexico vs Ultimo Dragon recruits such as CIMA, SUWA, TARU & others. At the time it was a huge deal for us online people who loved Toryumon. It made it's way onto TV in very edited form - many of the Japanese guys were eliminated by the time the match is joined in progress. Would be great to see in full as a time capsule of what a dream match looked like in 2003
6/20/03 @ Arena Mexico: Heat/Vampiro/Villano IV vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/Violencia & Felino/Negro Casas/Sagrado vs Black Warrior/Mazada/Nozawa
Heat is Minoru Tanaka on a short excursion to Mexico. He'd wind up having a singles match with Dr. Wagner Jr. but this was his unaired debut & what wacky teammates they gave him! This match is pure spectacle & I for one would love to see it some day.
This is Sagrado's big debut! The original Mistico! He gets the full Fray Tormenta presentation & put over strong by according to all the magazine recaps he totally bombed in his first match. And second match. And third match. He was clearly not ready for this spot, nor what CMLL was looking for out of this gimmick. As the story goes due to declining attendance they asked a lot of the regular fans what they wanted to see. The common answer was we want our version of Rey Misterio Jr. who was a big hit in WWE at the time. So CMLL came up with the idea for a new Santo-esque religious character but who flew around like Rey. They pushed Genetico strong in the Guapos tournament but had Terrible win with the idea they would be the pushed young guys at the time opposite each other. For whatever reason they didn't pick Ricky Marvin who was the obvious choice for this gig. Or maybe he didn't want it since he was doing well in NOAH at the time. So they stuck Sagrado into the role & high flying was not exactly his specialty. Highlights of his debut matches end up airing on TV & even with the magic of editing you can see how poorly he does. Seeing the actual full debut complete with crowd reaction would be a great piece of lost history.
6/24/03 @ Arena Coliseo: Shocker vs Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL Light Heavyweight Title)
Considered perhaps the two best workers in Mexico at the time, they ended up booked against each on a random Tuesday show the week before. Was probably a fantastic match but TV time was instead dedicated to Cien Caras vs Pierroth! Yes! In 2003! Unless you lived through it you'll never know the true pain of living through this era of CMLL just via what aired on TV. A painful existence. Nevertheless, this match also slips through the cracks the week after so we always default to choosing the title match over the setup one!
7/4/03 @ Arena Mexico & 7/11/03: Block A & B Trios Tournament
A tournament? You're asking to see TWO pointless CMLL tournaments??? Well, yes. Only short clips of the matches aired on TV but the tournament is full of good workers so there may be some fun sprints. Maybe most notably Block A is the official presentation of a team called Los Havana Brothers! Rocky or Ricky Romero, Havana Brother II & Bobby or Rocky Quance depending what day of the week it was. Guest stars at the request of the NJPW LA Dojo who end up making quite an impact in CMLL! Most forget this was their actual debut & not the first in a series of matches with Ricky Marvin, Volador Jr. & Virus.
7/8/03 @ Arena Coliseo: Blue Panther/Fuerza Guerrera/Super Crazy vs Los Havana Brothers
I can't be the only one that wants to see angry Fuerza Guerrera vs any of the Havana Brothers, right? This seems like a delightful hidden gem type match to bust out some day.
7/15/03 @ Arena Coliseo: Atlantis vs Satanico
1984 & 2003... the *only two times* in the history of these two men's careers that they had a singles match at Arena Coliseo. Only once at Arena Mexico, if you were curious. It's almost unfathomable two guys who have spent 40+ years each in this company & had thousands of matches in this building only shared the ring alone TWICE. We actually do have the 1984 match on video! So naturally we must have the 2003 matches as well, even just for historical purposes.
7/25/03 or 8/1/03 @ Arena Mexico: Marcela & Azumi Hyuga vs La Amapola & Comando Bolshoi
Another year, another special visit from the Japanese ladies, another rare opportunity on back-to-back weeks for the women to wrestle on a Friday night. It must be documented in video form! These are true Easter eggs.
8/5/03 @ Arena Coliseo: Ricky Marvin/Tigre Blanco/Virus vs Los Havana Brothers
Tigre Blanco steps in for Volador Jr & presumably the great run of matches between these teams continues. Maybe one day once the archive gets going they can do a supercut of all the Havana Brothers matches from this first tour. If you thought me making a list like this is crazy, you must think that last line is especially nuts.
9/5/03 @ Arena Mexico: CMLL Super Lightweight Title Torneo Cibernetico
We knew we were screwed as soon as this match was announced for a Friday night. No way it was gonna make the TV cut. We got a nice little surprise as the tail end found it's way into a highlight but more than half the field was already gone. The Havana Brothers were killing it & the rest of the match is made up with all these undercarders we never got to see but were getting rave reviews. That mix alone should have made this an incredible match that never saw the light of day.
9/16/03 @ Arena Coliseo: Astro Boy/Sombra De Plata/Zeta vs Polvora/Sakura/Vaquero
Mistico as Astro Boy had already done a couple Arena Coliseo matches at this point, most of them on Sundays in the opening match rookies exhibition spot but this would be his technical debut match on the roster as he becomes a regular going forward. It's possible CMLL already knew the Sagrado gimmick was dead in the water, he was certainly being booked as such, so they already had it in their mind they were gonna try again next year with someone else. The story has always been they only chose Astro Boy after seeing how he began to connect with the fans & get over with his out of this world highspots. But maybe they knew from Day #1 (aka this show)? Video may tell the story, video we've never had access to.
9/19/03 @ Arena Mexico: Ricky Marvin/Volador Jr./Virus vs Los Havana Brothers
The famous trios match from the Anniversary Show. Stole the show, won MOTY in Mexico, remembered as an all-time classic. Yes, it aired on TV. But there is at least one very noticeable edit. This is the kind of thing that should have been up Day 1 on the streaming service, it should be one of the first releases when those archives are eventually opened up.
10/7/03 @ Arena Coliseo: Torneo Cibernetico
Doesn't appear to be any actual reward for this so just a random torneo cibernetico unless video shows otherwise. Features a group of established CMLL mid to upper card tecnicos vs lower ranked rudos like all the members of La Alianza, a much hyped young trio who never got any opportunity to move up. Randomness like this is why you hope the archives get opened up one day.
10/31/03 @ Arena Mexico: Neutron & Valiente vs Ramstein & Sangre Azteca
Valiente makes his Arena Mexico debut. Reason enough to want to see this never aired match. Would go well with a career retrospective or podcast interview. Most people have never even seen that original weird Valiente gear. He would have fit as a 3rd member of the Caligula & Messala Romans pairing.
11/4/03 @ Arena Coliseo: Alacran De Durango/Brazo De Oro Jr./Brazo De Plata Jr. vs Caligula/Messala/Reyes Veloz
Speaking of which... debut for Caligula! Romans united! Could be a nice video to share at some point in honor of Raziel on the Anniversary of his passing. Also features two long-time CMLL undercarders who at this time were rapidly approaching the point of extinction in Alacran & Reyes Veloz. I don't think Alacran makes it into 2004 & Veloz might but is gone soon after. The stumbling block to ever seeing this of course is the inclusion of Brazo De Plata Jr. (Psycho Clown) & Brazo De Oro Jr. (La Mascara).
11/7/03 @ Arena Mexico: Super Crazy/Virus/Volador Jr. vs Los Havana Brothers
At this point TJ Perkins has left Mexico so Ricky Reyes is brought in as the newest member of the Havana Brothers. They don't seem to miss a beat in matches we've seen & this lineup with Super Crazy stepping in for Ricky Marvin seems like a no-brainer great match. It would boggle your mind what CMLL was choosing to air on TV at this time instead of stuff like this. Hope you like end of his run rudo Gigante Silva matches!
11/14/03 @ Arena Mexico: Rocky Romero vs Virus (CMLL Super Lightweight Title)
Again... the pure disappointment of seeing what CMLL chose to air in their alloted 1 hour time slot every Saturday. According to records 2:41 of the 3rd fall of this match was all we were blessed with. Criminal. Even more criminal is this is sitting on a hard drive somewhere in the CMLL offices & isn't up yet! That must be fixed! Virus dethrones Rocky here in what was said to be a MOTYC.
11/21/03 @ Arena Mexico: Astro Boy & Sombra De Plata vs El Koreano & Super Comando
Mistico's official Arena Mexico debut & likely the debut of La Mistica as well! Super Comando was one of the guys entrusted with taking it properly at the beginning.
12/5/03 @ Arena Mexico: Atlantis/Shocker/Super Parka/Vampiro vs Black Warrior/Dr. Wagner Jr./Fuerza Guerrera/Perro Aguayo Jr.
Perrito had just joined the rudo side having his first official match with them the week before which did make TV. This one did not with it being the unofficial year end show so it was loaded with higher priority stuff. This seems like a real fun mix of regulars as well as guest star Super Parka. I can't even remember the story as to why he was inserted into this match but maybe video will tell a story. LA Park debuts the following week so maybe this was part of the deal.
1/20/04 @ Arena Coliseo: Black Warrior vs Emilio Charles Jr. (CMLL Middleweight Title)
Incredibly Emilio retains his title over Warrior here which tells you all about CMLL's mentality when it comes to a youth movement at this point in time. This didn't make TV nor did it make the KHWY 22 videos we've collected! The what??? That was a local LA channel that appeared to have struck a deal to air a 1 hour CMLL show. Here's the catch... it only started airing in 2005 but the matches were all from late 2003/early 2004. It was an incredible discovery when we found out it existed. So it's possible this wound up on one of those shows. It would track with some weird booking around this time where they seemed to be doing week-to-week Tuesday booking instead of just random matches. This could have been a fun match!
1/23/04 @ Arena Mexico: LA Park & Shocker vs Ultimo Guerero & Rey Bucanero (CMLL Tag Team Titles)
A classic! Never aired originally, showed up on one of the Year in Review shows but edited down of course. What we saw was absolutely incredible stuff. Tons of drama with Rey Bucanero going down to injury when his leg gets trapped between the chairs while taking a tope. Definitely a planned spot, not sure if the injury was as well. Tecnicos win the titles in a huge upset. This was a very memorable match for it's time & deserves the chance to be seen in full.
3/19/04 @ Arena Mexico: Astro Boy/Neutron/Zeta vs Hooligan/Ramstein/Sangre Azteca
The opener to Homenaje Dos Leyendas featuring rising stars Astro Boy & Zeta fresh off a Michinoku Pro tour along with forever future star Neutron taking on the all-star rudo team of La Alianza. This has the all-time Astro Boy asai moonsault to nowhere spot that made it onto Momentos Estelares. The most we've ever seen of this match that probably tore the house down. The rest of the show exists on video so why not complete it some day with the opener too!
5/21/04 @ Arena Mexico: Brazo De Oro Jr./Hijo Del Texano/Misterioso II vs Espiritu Maligno/Lobo Vikingo/Maximo
This was the final of the Guapos U (final edition) tournament. Groups were seperated into trios teams & it didn't get much TV coverage aside from the occasional clips of a finish over the many weeks. CMLL didn't play it up the way they did the previous years but it would still be an interesting match to see as Espiritu/Lobo have always been mysteries to us CMLL hardcores. We only much later found out this wasn't the Puebla Espiritu Maligno so his identity is largely unknown. Lobo Vikingo ended up becoming one of the many Pierroths.
6/25/04 @ Arena Mexico: Atlantis & Blue Panther vs Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero (CMLL Tag Team Titles)
Can you imagine the reaction these days if a match at this level on a Friday night just never got shown? You can't. Because it's unfathomable. But back in the days pre-cell phone recordings & CMLL only have an hour for TV, this Friday night main event got cut & never showed up on any secondary TV show or year end review. Another match that should be one of the first uploads when the archives open up.
7/19/04 @ Arena Mexico: Leyenda De Plata Torneo Cibernetico
The annual workrate match where we saw just under 20 of a match that definitely went double that. Cubs' recap notes "the first good match in a while" which tells you the dire TV situation for CMLL at the time. Mistico's first major match at Arena Mexico even though he's not a focused on guy yet.
8/6/04 @ Arena Mexico: Felino/Mistico/Ricky Marvin vs Averno/Mephisto/Violencia
There probably needs to be a special "unseen Mistico matches" compilation to be done but this one stands out to me from his early Friday appearences as it has him against two guys for the first time who would become his regular & best opponents. It also has him teaming with Ricky Marvin who has always claimed he was offered the role of Mistico but turned it down. This is the last real "normal" Mistico match. He has a lightning match with Virus the following week, then the Gran Alternativa (which we'll get to next) & it's all big matches going forward. Not so much for poor Ricky
8/20/04 @ Arena Mexico
Show was pre-empted due to Olympics coverage so this event aired NOWHERE! Of course it would be the show with the Gran Alternativa where El Hijo Del Santo & Mistico team up which changes the future course of CMLL/lucha libre. A copy of the tournament (I think with one missing match) made it onto YouTube completely randomly, most likely from someone who bought one of the DVD's being sold on the street at the time. But if this footage exists in pristine condition, the show needs to be uploaded ASAP. Historic tournament which also features the first ever interaction between Mistico & Ultimo Guerrero.
9/7/04 @ Arena Coliseo: Shocker vs Damian El Terrible (NWA Light Heavyweight Title)
I'd call this a historic match in CMLL terms as it's the first time Terrible clashes with his ex-leader Shocker in a battle of the Guapos. Would have been a big test for him at the time against still one of the best wrestlers in the world.
9/24/04 @ Arena Mexico: Mistico/Misterioso II/Volador Jr. vs Averno/Mephisto/Olimpico
Revancha from the Anniversary Show the week before. The Mistico/Misterioso II/Volador Jr. team was like a prototype Sky Team group for it's very short time together & these would have been their best possible opponents at the time. It was actually pretty surprising this one didn't make it onto TV since CMLL had a little more time given to them & the match the week before made the cut.
10/12/04 @ Arena Coliseo: Mr. Niebla vs Universo 2000 (CMLL Heavyweight Title)
Title change! Universo seemed to be given the belt as part of the exchange for dropping his mask at the Anniversary Show. It's only appropriate as Niebla had taken the title from Universo about 18 months earlier. As always you love to have any available title switch on video.
10/29/04 @ Arena Mexico: Shocker/Mr. Niebla/Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/Olimpico
The infamous OOPS match! Whether intentionally or unintentionally CMLL booked Mistico to *lose* this match. He took the deciding fall. Whether they were testing to see how the crowd would react or they immediately regretted it... that part is unclear. Whatever the story was - this match never saw the light of day aside from some Mistico highspots on Momentos Estelares the following week. They clearly intended for it to air at some point because a Coliseo match that would typically never see the light of day ends up sneaking onto the Televisa TV broadcast. This match has always fascinated me simply to see how the crowd reacted to the hottest rising star getting beat. It was probably a great match too! Mistico & Ultimo Guerrero were doing some unreal stuff at the time.
11/5/04 @ Arena Mexico: Atlantis/Blue Panther/Canek vs Dr. Wagner Jr./Olimpico/Ultimo Guerrero
CMLL was doing an old school thing around this time. In the 80's/early 90's they'd announce something like "the order of the top 3 matches will be determined by a random draw". This was a way to put the bigger stars on earlier in the show if they had another show that same night or also as a face saving deal for top stars who didn't want to be advertised beneath other people. One would assume that was the latter case here. So because this went on 3rd, it missed the cut for TV. What does that have to do with wanting to see it? Well Wagner was starting to get red hot as a *tecnico* at this point which was not planned at all. Canek was getting very negative reactions for being Wagner's main rival but also fans feeling he unfairly unmasked Universo 2000 at the Anniversary Show. So that dynamic would be really fun to watch play out.
11/30/04 @ Arena Coliseo: Shocker/Mr. Niebla/Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/Olimpico
Sound familiar? It's the OOPS match from 10/29 except with the right result this time! No idea if it aired in Mexico, it certainly didn't in the US as Galavision had CMLL pre-empted for two straight weeks. The only matches that aired from those two week so Tuesday/Friday shows were on TLN in Canada which I recorded & this was not one of them.
12/10/04 @ Arena Mexico: Rocky Romero vs Virus (CMLL Super Lightweight Title)
Rocky returns to Mexico to regain his CMLL Super Lightweight championship. This made the TV cut but chopped to shreds to the point Cubs' recap says it was "only okay". Seems impossible to believe. Surely the full version is at least "good" or better.
1/1/05 @ Arena Coliseo: Mistico vs Averno (NWA Middleweight Title)
The big one! Should be match #1 uploaded when the archives are opened up. CMLL was busy spending two weeks on Year in Review shows so this Saturday (Friday pushed back due to holiday) show went completely unaired. It'd be nice to see it all of course but most importantly the main event needs to be salvaged. A truly legendary match because only legends of it exist! Said to be an all-time classic with the fans showering the money with ring afterwards & raising Mistico on their shoulders. This win gave him his first championship & cemented him as the new star of the company. The match was apparently so good, CMLL decided everyone needed to see it. Not only did they book rematches in Guadalajara & Puebla, they also booked it for Arena Mexico in February where by all accounts they just re-did the Coliseo match in front of a bigger crowd. No matter, I'd like to see the original version! This is a holy grail match.
4/5/05 @ Arena Coliseo: Mistico vs Rey Bucanero
Rare Tuesday singles match for new sensation Mistico & possibly the one time these two had a Mexico City singles match in a CMLL building?
4/26/05 @ Arena Coliseo: Mistico vs Mephisto
Same as above. Averno became Mistico's more regular singles opponent so we didn't get to see Mistico/Mephisto really go at it until much much much later in their careers.
5/10/05 @ Arena Coliseo: Black Warrior/Negro Casas/Tiger Mask vs Averno/Mephisto/Tarzan Boy
The legendary ORIGINAL Tiger Mask Satoryu Sayama returned to Mexico for a farewell tour & this Tuesday match ended up being his last match ever at Arena Coliseo. An excellent pull from the archives if anyone is truly paying attention.
6/24/05 @ Arena Mexico: Bronco/Electro Shock/LA Park vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/Tarzan Boy
"Memorably awful" says CubsFan of TheCubsFan dot com. A truly infamous match in time. CMLL hyped Electro Shock coming in & the then hardcore CMLL fan base reacted as one would expect to an AAA lifer walking into their building... it was hostile territory. Electro could have had the match of his life & they'd still have boo'ed him. The problem was, he did not. He had a very poor performance even with CMLL feeding him the best rudo team possible. There was some silly rumor at the time the Guerreros purposely sabotaged Electro which is clearly untrue if you watch the video. Yes, this made it to TV but highly edited. That's why it makes the list here. Would love to see the full version of this disaster. This was also Bronco's debut aka Silver King under another new gimmick to hide the fact he was bald & thus didn't want to wrestle unmasked. Unfortunately for him he is on Electro's team so the crowd jumps all over him too at various points. Something totally unlike you'd see from the current CMLL audience.
11/8/05 @ Arena Coliseo
Nothing from this Tuesday show aired on TV even with a full 2 hour slot available. Main event looks tremendous & very loaded for a Tuesday with Dr. Wagner Jr., LA Park & Mistico vs Atlantis, Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero. Semi-main is a CMLL Tag Team Titles match with Averno & Mephisto retaining over Negro Casas & Heavy Metal.
12/30/05 @ Arena Coliseo
Nothing particularly noteworthy seems to be happening here but as usual with Year in Review stuff airing on TV not a single match from this Friday show makes it onto video which makes it a rarity.
1/29/06 @ Arena Coliseo: Astro Boy & Flash vs Cyber Black & Dr. Karonte Jr.
By now Sunday shows are on the table for the archives as CMLL is airing on 52MX & in a couple months more Fox Sports as well. This was the "lucha de regalo" which is basically CMLL sending out students to do an unofficial opening match on a Sunday or Tuesday. Features Flash's debut, he'd become Fuego down the road. Astro Boy re-appears, probably hoping his brother's success would give him an immediate spot, he becomes Argos down the line. Dr. Karonte Jr. is another family member, the future Argenis. Cyber Black was a guy who seemed to be a CMLL school lifer & eventually disappeared. He did many lucha de regalos. This would be an archive deep pull.
2/10/06 @ Arena Mexico
The women's match from this show aired on 52MX & the main event made the rounds in tape (DVD by now) trading circles but othewise this is a rare mostly unseen Friday show during a very hot period for the company.
6/9/06 @ Arena Mexico: Dos Caras Jr./Dr. Wagner Jr./Mr. Niebla vs Damian 666/LA Park/Misterioso II
An interesting match that never ended up making TV, the semi-main of this Friday night show. Misterioso II is here as a reward for winning the Gran Alternativa. Wagner & LA Park just had their split on the tecnico side & were building to a singles match so perhaps this one got a little too out of control for TV? If that's the case, very wishful thinking it ever shows up in the archives but I'm still noting it either way.
6/30/06 @ Arena Mexico: Blue Panther/Mr. Niebla/Silver King vs Kenzo Suzuki/Ohara/Okumura
WEIRDNESS! Silver King pops up out of nowhere without either the Bronco or Black Tiger gimmick. Also, he's a tecnico! This Friday semi-main never made TV & really stuck out as being a very strange match to have been booked. Perhaps it was filmed for other reasons (TV show? Documentary?). A long time lucha mystery match.
10/6/06 @ Arena Mexico
Another rare mostly unseen Friday show. With some matches from the PPV airing on a delay, only the main event made it onto 52MX.
10/8/06 @ Arena Coliseo: Mascara Purpura vs Hooligan
I remember this being very odd & I'm always interested in seeing odd CMLL things. This was not an announced match nor was it a lightning match. Best theory is one or more of the main eventers were running late considering the busy schedules they had during this time period so CMLL sent out a filler match & told them just to kill as much time as possible. Something that would be unheard of in current CMLL.
12/22/06 @ Arena Mexico
With PPV matches airing this Friday show got left in the dust. Not a single match made TV anywhere. Features the first big Volador Jr/Averno singles match on a Friday night for the CMLL Middleweight Title which no doubt was a fantastic match. Should be a high priority archive upload. Very Friday where Mistico was working mid-card!
1/30/07 @ Arena Coliseo: Lizmark/Sagrado/Satanico vs Eclipse/Efesto/Misterioso II
We didn't know it at the time but this would end up being Lizmark's final match in CMLL & basically his retirement match in general. He had looked very rough in 2006 & was very much a relic of the past with the direction CMLL was heading in but he was still a legendary figure in CMLL's history so it'd be cool to see his final match.
2/9/07 @ Arena Mexico: Molotov & Sombra De Plata vs Carrona & Cobalto
Yes, I do have a reason for including this! The only Friday night show those two rudos ever worked. But also to note a few months later there was a weird internet TV channel that was found to be airing random CMLL matches from this time period. Lots of matches that hadn't been seen before as presumbly CMLL was spreading out their footage as much as possible. So something like this may have made the cut but it was always a bitch to track down when the CMLL stuff would air or find a way with technology being what it was to record the stream.
2/27/07 @ Arena Coliseo: Brillante Jr./Stuka Jr./Valiente vs Apocalipsis/Arkangel/Dr. X
Brillante Jr. aka La Sombra aka Andrade's CMLL debut. You know they had big plans for him because he didn't walk in as an opening match guy, this was third from the top on a Tuesday show. At this point in time the Tuesday shows didn't have any TV outlet but highlights would air on some online sports news show.
5/1/07 @ Arena Coliseo: Atlantis vs Alex Koslov (NWA Light Heavyweight Title)
Another match on the Tuesday shows that had no outlet & a pretty fascinating match as Atlantis goes in as the rudo & foreigner Koslov is the tecnico.
5/8/07 @ Arena Coliseo: Dos Caras Jr./Lizmark Jr./Ultimo Dragon vs Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero/Jushin Lyger
Grand Prix week so some special guests were around which gave us a rare chance to see Ultimo Dragon vs Jushin Lyger in Mexico! First & only time? I'd have to look it up but sounds about right since they were always both on the tecnico side until much much much later in their careers & at that point Dragon was out of CMLL. If nothing else a historic match to share one day.
5/18/07 @ Arena Mexico: Dos Caras Jr./Sagrado/Ultimo Dragon vs Kenzo Suzuki/Minoru Suzuki/Yoshihiro Takayama
A real match! A real match that never made TV! These were the guys left over from Grand Prix week. A very sketchy version aired on that weird internet show airing CMLL matches but all I remember of it was Minoru Suzuki beating up Kemonito. So now I guess reading that everyone wants to see this match???
7/13/07 @ Arena Mexico: Pequeno Reyes Del Aire Torneo Cibernetico
The CMLL minis divison was batshit insane around this time but they rarely got the chance to be seen on TV. This one snuck through the cracks on 52MX but of course it was heavily edited. Getting to see this match unedited would be a hidden gem for me personally but should be for everyone as well.
7/17/07 @ Arena Coliseo: Bam Bam vs Pequeno Damian 666 vs Pequeno Halloween (Hair vs Hair vs Hair)
Super rare 3 way hair match. I think the last time CMLL would have done anything like this would have been back in 1999 w/ Dantes/Porky/Pierroth. Traditional CMLL 3 way rules were a coin flip to determine a bye & then 2 singles matches with each match loser then having to do the apuesta match. Naturally you'd always end up with one person winning two straight matches as to not have to do a repeat match. As I said above for the Pequeno Reyes Del Aire - this division was on fire at this time & all 3 of these guys were fantastic. This is probably a hidden classic.
7/24/07 @ Arena Coliseo: Bam Bam vs Pequeno Damian 666 (Hair vs Hair)
Kinda spoils what happened above but you'll forgive me nearly 20 years after the fact. These guys had multiple hair matches but you never forget your first!
9/25/07 @ Arena Coliseo: Felino/Leono/Mascara Purpura vs Satanico/Ogun/Eclipse
Have I lost my mind? Perhaps. This match looks like utter shit. This is merely a curiosity factor pick. This is the final CMLL appearence of Eclipse. Arrived in CMLL in early 2006 as Rey Tigre. They loved his size, his body, his charisma... so within months he was re-gimmicked to be Eclipse - new member of Los Guerreros De La Atlantida. Got a big push including being a regular rival of top guy Dos Caras Jr. due to the size matching up. For CMLL to have gone that hard with someone new who wasn't a family member is very rare. Nevertheless, Eclipse only lasts just over a year. As the story spread soon afterwards he packed up his stuff soon after this show & flew back to his hometown in Cancun to never be seen or heard from again. Did something specific happen in this match or was it just the build-up of him being unhappy? Maybe video will tell the story.
10/2/07 @ Arena Coliseo: Reyes Del Aire Torneo Cibernetico
In their infinite wisdom CMLL booked what had become a favorite match of ours on a Tuesday Coliseo show - the one show a week that had no TV outlet that we know of. Highlights aired on that show I mentioned above but this would be awesome to see in full with a safe Valiente vs Virus final.
11/9/07 @ Arena Mexico: Mascarita Dorada & Atomo vs Pequeno Black Warrior & Pequeno Damian 666
Not officially Dorada/Warrior's CMLL debuts as they worked the Sunday Coliseo opener days earlier but this is generally considered their welcome to CMLL. Also has the Friday debut of Atomo (future Mini Maximo). Clips of this aired on 3ra Caida. I thought it might sneak onto TV because CMLL was making a big deal out of Dorada coming in but it was not meant to be. The highlights looked incredible & naturally he got over immediately.
11/27/07 @ Arena Mexico: La Sombra vs Ohara (NWA Welterweight Title)
At this point the Tuesday Coliseo shows moved over to Arena Mexico as we were one week away from the CMLL Cadena Tres TV debut which puts us in the era of every CMLL Mexico City show having it's own TV outlet. So this match just missed the cut & was said to be very good! Basically Ohara's Mexico farewell if I'm remembering correctly.
12/4/07 @ Arena Mexico: Atlantis & Blue Panther vs Negro Casas & Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL Tag Team Titles)
We were not prepared for the CMLL Cadena Tres debut so even though this was the first episode to air - nobody was around to record it! They loaded up the show so I'd love to see it all but this main event in particular stands out as something that was probably pretty great.
12/7/07 @ Arena Mexico: Blue Panther/Mistico/Negro Casas vs Atlantis/Averno/Ultimo Guerrero
All the stars are here but somehow this Friday match slipped through the cracks of all 3 TV shows CMLL had designated to air Friday matches. No clue why. A missing piece of the puzzle for the unofficial 2007 year end show.
3/25/08 @ Arena Mexico: Los Rayos Tapatios I y II vs Puma King & Semental
Official Arena Mexico debut for both Puma King & Semental (future The Beast Mortos/Black Taurus). Cadena Tres would sometimes sneak in an opening match but not this week so this one has sat in the CMLL archives since the day it was recorded. I actually didn't even realize both those guys started out in the same match. Bonded by that, and only that, forever!
4/30/08 @ Arena Mexico: Mini's Torneo Cibernetico
Incredible Kids Day show in front of a near sold out Arena Mexico on a Tuesday! The top two matches are super memorable. This match aired as well but was also cut to just the final 4 due to time constraints. Insane hot crowd. This is likely a gold level hidden gem.
6/8/08 @ Arena Coliseo: Catedratico & Soberano vs Corsario & Hechicero
The standard rookies lucha de regalo on a Sunday show but with a couple interesting names. Soberano is not Soberano Jr, it's Hijo Del Soberano who had a run in CMLL around this time before heading back home to Torreon. Hechicero... could be the future Rey Hechicero? We've never been clear on this one but video would certainly clear up whether this is a hidden gem or not! Hechicero is absent from Monterrey during this time period...
6/24/08 @ Arena Mexico
One of the rare early Cadena Tres episodes that nobody seemed to record so no footage has ever existed.
7/4/08 @ Arena Mexico: Shockercito & Tzuki vs Pequeno Damian 666 & Pequeno Violencia
Two small minis vs two large minis. Why wouldn't you want to see this? This is my one selfish pick I'm including because I'm still salty that this aired on Fox Sports & nobody managed to record it.
7/25/08 @ Arena Mexico: Grand Prix
A who's who of names involved in this one including the only Arena Mexico appearence of AJ Styles. This was during the short-lived CMLL/TNA working agreement so it's basically CMLL vs TNA. Very long match, nearing an hour. The TV version sliced it down by a good 15 minutes or so. CMLL loves boasting about now famous names who have come through Arena Mexico so this seems like a no-brainer easy early pull when the archives are opened up.
7/29/08 @ Arena Mexico
Another Cadena Tres show that didn't get recorded by anyone.
8/15/08 @ Arena Mexico
This Friday show got pre-empted on Televisa so it was moved over to Cadena Tres on a special Sunday airing. Of course no notice was put out so the usual people weren't ready to record. The main event of Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Mr. Niebla surfaced on YouTube down the line but the rest of the show has sat in a storage room since it was recorded.
9/2/08, 9/16/08 & 9/23/08 @ Arena Mexico
All Tuesday Cadena Tres shows that aired but weren't recorded by anyone in the DVD trading community or anyone who was sharing the shows in the early stages of this thing called YouTube.
9/19/08 @ Arena Mexico: Alex Koslov/La Sombra/Maximo vs Damian 666/Mr. Aguila/Texano Jr.
Anniversary Show opener that never made TV or random YouTube upload. I remember two different times buying DVD's outside Arena Mexico that had this show hoping to find this match (or the match below) but I guess the era of leaking production copies of the Friday shows had come to an end by this point.
9/19/08 @ Arena Mexico: Dr. Wagner Jr. vs LA Park
The infamous match. They broke every rule from bleeding to fighting in the crowd to hitting the referee to swearing on the mic. LA Park was naturally the one punished although Wagner wasn't long for this company after this night. By this point we entered the era where cell phones being able to record stuff in decent quality was a thing & many years later totally at random a copy of this full match showed up but by mid-2010 standards the quality was very substandard. The audio is good enough to hear the crowd losing it for everything they were doing. I'm not dumb, I know this will never be shared as CMLL wants to bury it's existence. But I have to note it for the record of course.
11/4/08 @ Arena Mexico
Another missing Cadena Tres show. This one hurt as it had Blue Panther vs Averno & a defense of the Mexican National Trios Titles by the awesome Sagrado/Sombra/Volador Jr. team against Dragon Rojo Jr./Misterioso II/Olimpico.
12/7/08 @ Arena Mexico: Mistico & Hector Garza vs Averno & Mephisto (CMLL Tag Team Titles)
Very surprising Sunday show title change! At the time we didn't quite understand it but it all made sense a month later (put the belts on Sombra/Volador Jr). This was around the time our access to the Fox Sports show was cut off aside from random YouTube uploads & this show never saw the light of day.
12/16/08 @ Arena Mexico: Pegasso/Rey Cometa/Stuka Jr. vs Arkangel/Nitro/Skandalo
Arena Mexico debuts for the ex-Fuerza Aerea members. They left AAA in early 2008 & had a strong IWRG run which put them on the CMLL map. After a few months of training they got their official debuts here but a shortened TV show that week left it in the unaired pile of matches.
3/15/09 @ Arena Mexico: Hector Garza/Hijo Del Fantasma/La Mascara vs Averno/Mephisto/Efesto (CMLL Trios Titles)
These teams always had great chemistry so would love to see this. We missed it when it (supposedly) aired on Fox Sports as nobody was recording the show at the time.
9/25/09 @ Arena Mexico: Electrico vs Pierrothito (CMLL Mini's Title)
Very rare for it's time mini's title defense on a Friday night show. Around this time CMLL had a couple month run doing LIVE matches from Arena Mexico on the early stages of the channel that would become TUDN. They'd basically join the Friday show at the beginning or in progress so you'd see the opener/segunda & *maybe* one other match before they cut away to boxing. It was so hard to find someone willing to record this show though so we only have a couple episodes. Not this one.
12/11/09 @ Arena Mexico: Diamante vs Escorpion
Two relative newcomers who would go on to have very differing careers get a shot to go wild on a Friday night. CMLL's own website actually aired highlights of this & it looked incredible with both guys obviously trying to impress.
12/13/09 @ Arena Mexico: Fuego & Stuka Jr. vs Polvora & Virus (Arena Coliseo Tag Team Titles) & Mistico vs Mephisto (Mexican National Light Heavyweight Title)
Two title matches that aired on weekend TV we were never able to track down so it counts as undiscovered footage.
1/12/10, 1/19/10, 1/26/10, 2/9/10, 2/16/10, 2/23/10, 3/16/10, 3/23/10, 3/30/10, 4/6/10, 7/27/10, 8/3/10, 12/21/10, 12/28/10 @ Arena Mexico
All Tuesday shows for Cadena Tres in a time period we couldn't find anyone to record the show & were relying on YouTube uploads. So this would all be new footage to anyone reading this & most in general.
12/25/10 & 1/1/11 @ Arena Mexico
Two almost completely unseen Friday night shows as the TV was pre-empted & nobody was recording the weeked shows. The 1/1 show has the yearly Reyes Del Aire won by Angel De Oro which somehow does eventually get inserted onto a 52MX show but everything would be new footage to all.
1/16/11 @ Arena Coliseo: Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero
Mistico's Arena Coliseo farewell although nobody knew it at the time. He has one more trios match before leaving for Japan where he doesn't end up returning to CMLL. This aired on one of the weekend shows but we were never able to track down a copy. He knew he was leaving at the time so I wonder if this match got emotional at the end?
2/4/11 @ Arena Mexico: Hijo Del Fantasma vs Olimpico
The infamous Fantasma punishment match. They found he did a secret WWE tryout & immediately cut his push + feud with Mephisto. A clip or two aired on the CMLL website but the match didn't make TV.
3/25/11 & 4/1/11 @ Arena Mexico: Gran Alternativa
Spread over two weeks for the first time either, neither week made TV outside of clips of the semis & final of Block B. Lots of fascinating names in this year's tournament like Dragon Lee (Mistico) just starting out, Palacio Negro (Titan), Metal Blanco (Triton), Magnus (as a Misticlon) & Lestat from Puebla.
5/17/11 @ Arena Mexico
Another missing Cadena Tres taped show. At this point CMLL also had a version of Cadena Tres airing on a channel in Los Angeles - sometimes with a match cut out. This didn't air on that channel either so maybe it just never aired even in Mexico.
6/7/11 @ Arena Mexico: Soberano Jr. & Trueno vs Apocalipsis & Semental
Soberano Jr. debut at Arena Mexico although at the time we were none the wiser (since he didn't make TV for a while) & assumed this was the same Soberano as the one who was running around CMLL shows in 2006/2007.
7/17/11 @ Arena Coliseo: Torneo Cibernetico
This was a special show to honor Arkangel's 25th Anniversary so it opened up with a torneo cibernetico featuring all his students at the time. As you'd expect some names pop up who we'd all become familiar with months or moreso years later such as Flamita, Bobby Zavala, Warrior Steel (Volcano) & Yago (Enfermero Jr). Seems like a match that will never see the light of day considering certain other circumstances but still worth listing.
9/2/11 @ Arena Mexico: Mascara Dorada vs Volador Jr. & Blue Panther/La Mascara/Rush vs Felino/Negro Casas/Hiroshi Tanahashi
Tanahashi's return to Arena Mexico naturally doesn't make it to TV. Or perhaps aired on Fox Sports the next weekend but we never got anyone to record it. It doubled as a match honoring Felino for 25 years in lucha libre so maybe when the archives open up it can be snuck in under the guise of that & they can use AI to replace Rush with Fugaz or something.
9/23/11 @ Arena Mexico: Leyenda De Plata Block A Torneo Cibernetico
We probably would have not seen either block of this year's Leyenda De Plata if Block B hadn't been put on a major show which we got from Samurai TV in Japan. Block A ended up on Fox Sports which nobody was recording at the time. Loaded block too in terms of good workers! Volador Jr ends up winning & eventually facing Liger.
1/6/12 @ Arena Mexico: Stuka Jr./Titan/Triton vs Euforia/Misterioso II/Okumura
Did not make any TV shows we were getting at the time but clips from a Momentos Estelares style highlight package made this look like a good one. Titan & Triton had just changed into those gimmicks from Palacio Negro & Metal Blanco so this was their Friday Arena Mexico debut. Match got over so well they repeated it the following week.
4/10/12 @ Arena Mexico: Electrico vs Pierrothito (Mexican National Lightweight Title)
Much like their Arena Mexico match back in 2009, this one does not exist on video outside of the archives. Another match that got strong praise from people who saw it live.
6/24/12 @ Arena Coliseo: Diamante/Dragon Lee/Triton vs Cancerbero/Raziel/Niebla Roja
Although speculated but unconfirmed at the time - this two fall win for the tecnicos by DQ happens due to Niebla Roja destroying Dragon Lee which ends that character until 2014. Obviously because this Dragon Lee was about to switch gimmicks...
7/24/12 @ Arena Mexico
Another missing Cadena Tres show. Funny enough this meant no CMLL footage for the week as in one of the more rare occurances in our lifetime - the Friday show was CANCELLED the day of due to a protest taking place outside the building. The infamous Tony Rivera bus blockade. Over the course of time some conspiracy theorists have actually attempted to claim CMLL could have still ran the show but decided if they just cancelled it & honored all tickets for the following week they could have a bigger turnout for the debut of the new Mistico. It did end up being one of the larger Arena Mexico crowds of this time period.
At this point we have entered the era of streaming shows (Sundays) & eventually the Tuesday/Friday shows would catch up so the picking get slim. There are some openers & undercard stuff that fall by the wayside & a missing show or two but I think many newer lucha fans will be able to figure out what's what.
So there you have it. My CMLL archive priority list. As I've mentioned before I don't expect any of this be rolled out in my lifetime. In fact, I'm quite certain the day after I die Alexis will put up those Volador Jr. rookie matches or an unseen Tzuki match. That's just how it goes. When that happens, you all make sure to enjoy them for me!
